State to investigate Constantine campaign

The State Public Disclosure Commission will investigate an allegation of illegal coordination between Dow Constantine's campaign for King County executive and an independent campaign that attacked his opponent, Susan Hutchison, in the primary, the PDC said Tuesday.

The PDC rejected a second complaint of coordination between the Constantine campaign and independent campaigns that supported him or attacked his opponents in the primary, former TV news anchor Hutchison and state Rep. Ross Hunter.

Campaign-finance laws prohibit candidates from coordinating their efforts with independent campaigns.

Hutchison said she was pleased the PDC decided to investigate. "There are a lot of questions, and I think by conducting an investigation we'll be able to get the answers as to whether or not there was any illegal activity," she said.

Constantine spokesman Sandeep Kaushik and campaign treasurer Jason Bennett said there had been no coordination between the Constantine campaign and anti-Hutchison ads funded, in part, by abortion-rights groups and a labor union.

"We look forward to the PDC taking a look at this and remain confident that ultimately they will find that there has been no coordination," Kaushik said.

Constantine, chair of the Metropolitan King County Council, is facing Hutchison in the Nov. 3 vote-by-mail election.

PDC spokeswoman Lori Anderson said she doesn't know if the agency will complete its investigation before the election.

West Seattle resident Judy L. Brown complained about Bennett's dual role as treasurer for the Constantine campaign and for FAIRPAC/Citizens To Uphold the Constitution, which spent $17,719 on phone calls and mailings that opposed Hutchison.

Kaushik said Bennett's dual role was legal, but Constantine "was not happy" when he learned of Bennett's other job and told Bennett he didn't want him working for both campaigns.

Bennett told the PDC in August that his role in the two campaigns was only "ministerial" — meaning he wasn't involved in campaign strategy or planning — but said he was handing over the FAIRPAC account to Shakti Hawkins, a principal in his firm, Argo Strategies.

Brown's complaint to the PDC said it appeared Bennett had a more substantial role in the Constantine campaign, noting he co-sponsored and promoted a fundraiser. On a King County Democrats questionnaire, Constantine wrote, "I have a great team hard at work implementing our campaign plan," and listed Bennett as a member of the team.

Bennett said he decided to remove himself from the FAIRPAC campaign to avoid "frivolous complaints" such as Brown's.

PDC staff declined to conduct a formal investigation of a complaint from Federal Way resident Angie Vogt, a conservative blogger and newspaper columnist, alleging coordination between a political consultant working for Constantine and another consultant working for the independent campaigns.

PDC Assistant Director Doug Ellis dismissed Vogt's complaint Tuesday, saying she had provided only "circumstantial evidence" that Constantine's primary political consultant, Christian Sinderman, coordinated efforts with Lisa MacLean, who prepared mailings for FAIRPAC and two other independent campaigns in the primary.

The independent campaigns spent $123,500 in the primary, supporting Constantine or attacking Hutchison and Hunter.

Sinderman, who runs Northwest Passage Consulting, and MacLean, who runs Moxie Media, said Moxie leases office space in a Fremont office building from Northwest Passage and the owners were business partners last year before going their separate ways. Both said they have not discussed the strategy or plans of their campaigns in the county-executive race.

"It's absolutely baseless," MacLean said of Vogt's complaint. "I hate to see our tax dollars being wasted on politically motivated complaints."

Said Sinderman, "We've gone to great lengths to create a real separation within the same office space. It's not uncommon."

He said the companies use separate office entrances, mailboxes, computers and locking offices, and no longer share a fax. He and MacLean said they sought the PDC's advice before setting up their arrangement.

Ellis said in August that it isn't illegal for consulting firms to share office space while working on campaigns that must be kept separate. Being in such proximity might create a temptation to discuss campaigns, he said, "but temptation is one thing and acting on that temptation is another."

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com